Steam, air, and water trap valve.



F. W. LEUTHESSER. STEAM, AIR, AND WATER TRAP VALVE. APYLIOATION FILEDFEB. 1'7, 1910.

1 ,Q42,()1 1 Patented Oct. 22, 1912.

FRED W. LEUTI-IESSER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

STEAM, AIR, AND WATER TRAP VALVE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 22,1912.

Application filed. February 17, 1910. Serial No. 544,334..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED IV. LEUTHnssnR, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam, Air, and aterTrap Valves, of which the following is a specification.

The valve of the present invention is employed in steam heating systems,either vacuum, gravity, or drain; and in use is a:- tached to thedischarge end of a radiator and the return pipe of the system, and isemployed to discharge air and water of condensation passing out from theradiator.

One object of the present invention is to provide a shell located withinthe interior of the valve casing; which shell will entirely surround thefloat and form a shield to pr"- vent the inrushing water coming throughthe inlet passage into the chamber of the casing from impinging againstthe float and exerting a motor action, which would tend to deflect thefloat from its normal course of movement. The shell further serves as adam, so that the agitation of the water in the chamber of the casing,which would be caused by the inrushing flow of water, is notcommunicated to the water immediately surrounding the float. Hence thefloat is surrounded by and operates in a still body of water, whichtends to make its unvements solely by flotation and noiseless.

A further object of the invention is to provide a guide stem, which willguide and maintain the float in a straight line during its up and downmovements; and also to provide an air passage through said guide stemwhich will serve to conduct the air from the chamber of the casing intothe discharge outlet.

Another object of the invention is to 'provide an outlet for any wateror air which may accidentally or otherwise accumulate in the interior orthe float; and a further object is to so form the tube in which theguide member extends that it will be impossible to insert the float intothe casing in a reversed condition.

The invention further consists in the features of construction andcombination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the valve of thepresent invention; and Fig. 2, a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, lookingin the direction of the arrow.

The valve of the present invention. as shown, consists of a casing 3,preferably 01 cylindrical formation, which is provided with a neck 4having an inlet opening 5 therein, and to which is attached a couplingmember 6 for attaching the valve to the discharge end of the radiator.The casing is further provided with a downwardly extending stem 7,having a discharge outlet 8 therein, and with an outwardly extendingboss 9, which is screw-threaded on its interior to receive a gland 10which bears against a packing 10; and entered intosaid gland is a stem11, having a tapered end 12 serving as a valve. The stem isscrew-threaded, on its exterior, for a portion or" its length, and thescrew threads on the stem mesh with a screw thread formed in the wall ofthe hole in the boss 9, through which hole the stem 11 passes. Thetapered or valve end 12 serves to control communication between a port13, communicating with the discharge passage 8 and a passageway ltextending down from the lower end of the chamber in the valve casing.The bypass thus tormed is used for the purpose of draining off anysediment which may collect in the bottom of the chamber in the valvecasing.

Atfixed to the upper end of the valve casing is a cap or cover 15,formed with a depending boss 16, into which, as shown, is entered thescrew-threaded end 17 ot a fixed guide member 18. The guide member isformed with a longitudinally extending bore 19, which serves as apassageway to conduct air from the chamber of the easing into thedischarge passage; and communieating with the bore 19 are cross passagesor ports 20, which communicate directly with the chamber of the casing.The tubular guide member is entered into a vertically extending tube 21,which has its lower end 22 surrounding a discharge port 23 formed 1n ashouldered valve plug 2 1, which is screw-threaded into the dischargeopening 8; and the tube 21 is further provided with an inwardlyextending bead 25. which reduces the interior diameter of the tube atthis point to a size less than the exterior diameter of the guide member18, andprevents the guide member from being inserted into the tube, itthe float should be placed in the casing in a reversed condition fromthat shown in the drawings. The tube 21 is further provided wi h anopening 26., l ated adjacent to the lower end of the interior of a float27, by means of which opening any water or air which may accidentally orotherwise gather in the interior of the float will escape into thedischarge passage. The tube 21 is fixed to and carried by the float- 27,operating within and inclosed by a shell 28. The body of this shell, asshown, is provided, midway of its length, with a plu ralit-y of waterinlet openings 29, and this shell 28, as shown, extends upward to apoint adjacent to the lower inner face of the cap 15. The shell 28,however, is of a size so that a clearance is formed between the shelland the inner side wall of the cap, which provides a passageway 30 forair into the interior of the shell. The shell 28 is provided with anauxiliary passageway 31, below the lower edge of the cap 15, which will,in case the passageway 30 should become clogged, allow air to pass intothe interior of the shell from the chamber of the casing. The shell isinturned at its lower end 32, and such end is clamped between theshouldered valve plug 2 1 and the bottom wall or floor of the chamber ofthe casing.

The operation is as follows: When steam is admitted to the radiator, airwill be forced out therefrom and will pass through the port or ports 20into the air discharge passage 19 of the tubular stem or member 18, andbe discharged into the outlet from the valve casing. After the air hasbeen discharged from the radiator, water of condensation will dischargefrom the radiator into the chamber of the casing and rise therein, andflow under a reduced pressure into the shell until the line of flotationof the float member has been reached, after which. the float will rise,carrying with it the tube 2-1 and unseating the lower end of the tubefrom around the discharge port 23. This will permit the water to passout through the discharge port 23 into the discharge passage 8 and intothe return pipe of the system. The lower end of the shell 28 will serveas a dam, so that the water of condensation en tering the casing willrise to a point level with the water inlet openings 29 and form a seal,which will prevent an undue amount of steam from passing from theradiator into the valve casing; and the shell will. further serve as ashield to cause a still body of water to surround the float, which bodyof water will not be constantly agitated by the inrushing water comingthrough the inlet 5, and the float will operate under the best possibleconditions to prevent noise, from rattling or other causes.

It will be noted that the ports or passages 20 in the stem 18 lieintermediate the lower edge of the cover and the upper end of the floatwhen the float is in the lowered position shown in Fig. 1, thus allowinga tree passage of air from the interior of the float chamber through thetube 18 and out through the discharge passage. lVhen the float rises,however, the upper end of the tube 21, which is secured to the float,will cover the ports or passages 20, cutting ofl' the passage of airthrough the passage 19 of the tube 18, and conserving the air pres' sureabove the water in the float chamber, thus allowing a maximum efliciencyof the vacuum in drawing the water from the float chamber.

I claim:

1. In a valve of the class described, the combination of a casing havingan inlet opening and a discharge opening therein, acap for closing theupper end of the casing, a float within the casing for governing thedischarge opening, a tube centrally extending through said float andaflixed thereto, a fixed guide member secured to said cap and enteringsaid tube and having a central longitudinal bore therein constituting apassage for the conduction of air through the float and into thedischarge passage, a transverse bore in the Wall of said guide memberex.- tending at right angles to the longitudinal bore and establishingcommunication between the interior of the casing and the interior of theguide member, said tube covering said bore when the float is raised,whereby passage of air through the float is prevented during the waterdischarging operation, and a shell surrounding said float and providedwit-h a water inlet opening and formed of an imperforate body betweenthe water inlet opening and its lower end, and having an air inlet atits upper end, and means for securing the shells in position within thevalve casing, substantially as described.

2. In a valve of the class described, the combination of a casing havingan inlet opening and a discharge opening therein, a cap for closing theupper end of the casing, a float within the casing for governing thedischarge opening, a tube centrally extending through said float andaffixed thereto, a fixed guide member secured to said cap and enteringsaid tube and having a centrally longitudinal bore therein constitutinga pas sage for the conduction of air through the float into thedischarge member, a transverse bore in the wall of said guide memberextending at right angles to the longitudinal bore and establishingcommunication be tween the interior of the casing and the interior ofthe guide member, said transverse bore being covered by said tube whenthe float is raised, whereby passage of air through said float isprevented during the water discharging operation, a shell surroundingsaid float and provided with a water inlet and an air inlet and formedof an impert'orate body between the water inlet opening and its lowerend and between the water inlet and air inlet, a shouldered plug enteredinto the discharge passage and provided with a centrally located borecommunicating with the discharge passage and presenting a flat upperface for the tube of the float to rest against, the shell being clampedbetween the shouldered plug and the floor of the casing, substantiallyas described.

3. In a valve of the class described, the combination of a casing havingan inlet opening and a discharge opening therein, a closure for theupper end of the casing, a float within the casing governing thedischarge opening, a guide stem for the float secured to said closureand having a longitudinal passage therethrough communicating with theoutlet, a transverse bore through the wall of said stem communicatingwith the longitudinal passage, said transverse bore lying intermediatethe lower end of the closure and the upper end of the float when thefloat is lowered, said float in its upward movement covering saidtransverse bore and cutting off communication between the upper portionof the float chamber and said longitudinal passage, thereby conservingthe air above the water in the float chamber during the waterdischarging operation, substantially as described.

FRED lV. LEUTHESSER. lVitnesses WM. P. BOND, THOMAS A. BANNING, Jr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressinghe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

